Facing Yaya's desire to refine and perceive the Beast King's Flame, Qi Ping had no objections.
"Go ahead!"
Qi Ping condensed a strand of the golden flame and controlled it to hover steadily in front of Yaya.
"Gah gah! (Thank you, Boss!)"
After speaking, Yaya used its Sun-Fire Flame to wrap around the Beast King's Flame. It then flew into the sunlight, absorbing solar power while contemplating the essence of the golden fire.
Watching Yaya's departing figure, Qi Ping's eyes were full of gratification. It was truly wonderful to have such a self-disciplined animal companion! It worked hard to awaken its bloodline, allowing him to grow alongside it, and always charged to the front in battle without hesitation.
The bees, too, searched for their own food, allowing Qi Ping to earn a bit more!
'First, I'll prepare this batch of Hundred-Spirit Grass according to the Spirit-Nurturing Honey recipe and hand it over to the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees.'
'The first batch won't be much, estimated at around five or six hundred spirit stones. However, the specific price will depend on the market.'
'The real profits will come with the second and third batches, especially when the Hundred-Spirit Grass in the Grade B Spiritual Land on Peak 28 begins to mature.'
Qi Ping estimated that in two months, the spirit stones earned from Spirit-Nurturing Honey would reach two to three thousand.
After categorizing the materials and handing them to the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees, Qi Ping continued his research on the Beast King's Flame, exploring how to use it to accelerate his comprehension of the True Meaning of Fire.
Cultivation knows no time. Qi Ping, immersed in his research, was only alerted by the bees that a week had passed.
"Buzz buzz... (Boss! The Spirit-Nurturing Honey is ready!)" a bee whispered in his ear.
"It's finished?"
"Buzz buzz... (Yes, Boss! It's all brewed!)"
Hearing this, Qi Ping was slightly stunned. He hadn't realized a week had slipped by so quickly. It seemed the intensity of the Beast King's Flame had indeed increased significantly.
Upon inspection, he found the honey was indeed fully prepared. The bees had already neatly stored the honey in jade bottles, saving him the trouble of collecting it.
"Well done!"
After praising the bees, Qi Ping stored the bottles in his storage bag and prepared to head to the Qingshi Market.
Since he had prepared in advance, it wasn't long before Qi Ping transformed into a bee, carrying his storage and spirit taming bags, and quietly left Peak 29 in B-District.
This time, he planned to use the Bone-Shrinking Face-Changing Art to adopt a new identity for his entry into the market, lest his original identity be targeted.
He had several goals for this trip:
Sell the Spirit-Nurturing Honey and determine the market rate.
Purchase seeds for first-grade high-rank fire-attribute spirit herbs, knowledge of herb properties, and recipes for high-rank fire-attribute pills.
Purchase a first-grade high-rank fire-attribute defensive spell.
Have Boss Gao look into news regarding spirit-soul spirit beasts, and if possible, visit Meng Yan to do the same, while also subtly inquiring about the recent situation in the Qingtian Domain and news of the Qingyuan Sect.
As for the lady in green, Lin Qingshu, though he was curious about her status as the manager of the Yunwu Mountain Range, he didn't dare ask blindly without knowing her relationship with Meng Yan.
Currently, Qi Ping felt there was room for cooperation with Lin Qingshu. If he could gain the trust and support of the mountain range's manager, his beekeeping and wealth-building endeavors would be much more convenient.
After leaving his spiritual land, Qi Ping did not head straight for the market as usual. Instead, as a High-speed Ring-cutter Bee, he carefully wandered through the Yunwu Mountain Range. He wanted to see the current state of the mountains and Qingshi County.
Previously, due to lack of strength, he had been curious but didn't dare roam freely. Now, with respectable strength and especially the Natural Perception talent to warn of danger, he had more confidence in his safety.
However, after spending some time exploring, Qi Ping couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"The Yunwu Mountain Range is already sixty to seventy percent empty..."
Compared to its peak, when spiritual lands in Districts A, B, C, and D were hard to find, the current scene was heartbreaking. Especially in District D; those tenants, being at the bottom of the rogue cultivator hierarchy, had the weakest ability to resist risks and enemies.
"It's getting colder and lonelier..."
And this didn't seem to be the end, as he saw people still packing their things to leave. Others had died at the hands of demon insects or unknown human killers, their bodies lying hot or cold in some forgotten corner of the mountains.
When these spirit farmers died, the spiritual plants they relied on for survival often continued to grow vigorously, forming a sharp contrast with their masters' lifeless corpses. Some plants were trampled or stolen, a scene as miserable as their owners.
'Sigh.'
'Is this the fate of rogue cultivators in chaotic times?'
Having once been an insignificant member among them, Qi Ping did not lack the capacity for empathy, so his heart felt heavy. Remembering the laughter and joy during past harvests made the current scene even more stark.
Qi Ping estimated that many of the seventy percent who vanished had left the area—a wise choice. But perhaps even more had perished in this chaos.
Faced with such a scene, even with his current cultivation, Qi Ping felt deeply powerless. This involved a struggle between Nascent Soul sects; what could he do?
The only thing he could do—and did—was order his swarm to quietly slay any demon insects they encountered in the mountains and save a few unlucky souls who didn't know they were in danger. Though, who knew how long that luck would last?
After leaving the mountain range, Qi Ping's heart was heavy, but it was also filled with a new sense of resolve. He had to become even stronger!
He refused to become one of those vanished cultivators, and he wouldn't let his friends become them either. For Sister Nan, he had already secretly stationed a small swarm as a hidden hand on Peak 5, which was the best return and help he could offer within his power.
Unbeknownst to him, after witnessing all this, Qi Ping's character became more resolute, and a desire for cultivation intensified. As he reflected on the state of the mountains, a Dao-heart was slowly beginning to take shape in his mind...